Pilot news: J.J. Abrams' robot cops, a James Caan comedy, juvenile delinquents from space and more

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Pilot season continued in full force on Friday (Jan. 25), with several new dramas and comedies ordered by the networks. Among them are two pilots from J.J. Abrams (“Lost,”“Fringe,”“Star Trek,”“Star Wars,” etc.), a dystopian drama called “The Hundred,” a show about an assassin family from John Wells, and a comedy starring James Caan.

FOX got the first of the J.J. Abrams pilots: an untitled project that is a buddy cop show set in the near future when LAPD officers are paired with human-like androids. J.H. Wyman (“Fringe”) wrote and executive produced the pilot. Abrams and Bryan Burke will executive produce.

The second Abrams pilot, “Believe,” has been ordered by NBC and was written/produced by Alfonso Cuaron (“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”) and Mark Friedman, with Abrams and Burke again executive producing. This show focuses on an unlikely friendship between a supernaturally gifted young girl and a former prisoner tasked to protect her from evil forces out to steal her power.

If a dystopian drama is what you want, “The Hundred” (ordered by The CW) should work. The show begins 97 years after nuclear war has destroyed the Earth’s civilization. The last human survivors send 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth to see if re-colonization is possible. Based on a young-adult book series by Kass Morgan, Jason Rothenberg wrote and will executive produce the pilot (with Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo).

Back on FOX, “Boomerang,” a drama about a family of assassins who carry out hits for the U.S. government has been ordered from executive producer John Wells (“ER,”“The West Wing,”“Shameless”). Davey Holmes wrote the pilot.

As for comedies, the big news is an ABC order for an untitled comedy set to star James Caan as a former baseball player whose strong-willed, single-mom daughter moves back home. When the daughter begins coaching little league, the family’s old world of sports returns. The pilot was written and produced by Mark and Robb Cullen.

ABC also ordered “Spy,” a single-camera comedy based on the British series (available on Hulu). The show follows a well-intentioned father who accidentally takes a job in espionage while trying to impress his son. The creator of the British series, Simeon Goulden, wrote the new pilot.